Computer Games (song)

This article is about the 1979 Mi-Sex song. For other songs, see Computer Games § Music.

"Computer Games" is a song by New Zealand band Mi-Sex, released in September 1979 in Australia and New Zealand as the second single from their debut studio album, Graffiti Crimes (1979). The song peaked at number 1 in Australia and 5 in New Zealand. The music video was filmed on location at what was at the time Control Data Corporation's North Sydney centre and included gameplay from the 1979 arcade games Speed Freak, Basketball and Star Fire. The single won the award for Best Australian Single at the 1979 TV Week/Countdown Music Awards.^[1]

"Computer Games"
Single by Mi-Sex
from the album Graffiti Crimes
Released	September 1979 (Australia/NZ)
Recorded	1979
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	3:54
Label	CBS
Songwriter(s)	Murray Burns Steve Gilpin Kevin Stanton
Producer(s)	Peter Dawkins
Mi-Sex singles chronology
"But You Don't Care" (1979) "Computer Games" (1979) "People" (1980)

The single was also released in Europe and North America, as well as South Africa where the band's name was altered to MS to satisfy censorship.

The song was also re-recorded as the final track for the band's 1983 album Where Do They Go?, a dub version was the 12" B-side of their 1983 single "Lost Time"^[2] and again on the 2016 EP Extended Play.

Reception

Musicologist Ian McFarlane opined that it was an "electro-pop anthem... with its simplistic, brain-teasing riff and Gilpin's mannered vocal yelps, "Computer Games" boasted little substance but was constructed for maximum effect. It came to epitomise the one word which has plagued the memory of Mi-Sex: 'contrived'."^[3]

Stewart Mason from AllMusic said "Steve Gilpin's theatrical vocals, full of Brian Connolly-style hiccups and leaps into falsetto, are an interesting counterpoint to the unvarying electronic rhythm, particularly on the memorable stuttering chorus."^[4] Cash Box said, "This avant-pop band has taken the sound first pioneered by Eno and Ultravox and molded it into more of a hard rock sound. The band employs witty future-orientated lyrics to augment the swirling synthesized sounds."^[5]

Track listings

Australia/New Zealand 7" (BA 222563)

1. "Computer Games" – 3:54
2. "Wot Do You Want?" – 2:55

Australian 12"

1. "Computer Games" (Disco Version) – 4:41
2. "Graffiti Crimes" – 3:49

Spanish version

1. "Juego De Computadoras (Computer Games)" – 3:54
2. "Que Queres? (Wot Do You Want?)" – 2:55

United Kingdom dance version

1. "Computer Games" (Special Dance Mix) – 6:17
2. "Wot Do You Want?" – 2:55

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Computer Games"

Chart (1979–1981)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6]	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7]	16
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8]	44
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9]	5
US Hot Dance Club Songs[10]	61

Year-end charts

1979 year-end chart performance for "Computer Games"

Chart (1979)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11][12]	19

1980 year-end chart performance for "Computer Games"

Chart (1980)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13]	68

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s